Today we look at my favorite passage concerning Jesus’ revelation about Himself. Read on!

⁵¹ When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Luke 9:51

The passage begins with Philip and Andrew bringing some Greeks to see Jesus. Because of the crowd (verse 29), we assume that Jesus met with them in a public place.

²⁰ Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 

His “Son of Man” reference in v. 23 is to Daniel 7:13-14 and refers to God the Son, speaking of Himself. He then gives an illustration about a seed that must die in order to sprout (v.24), which is a reference to Himself and the kingdom of God. Jesus then gives the crux of the ideology of His kingdom,

²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

He then goes another step further and states the prerequisite to being a follower of His,

²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me;

And likewise, whoever wants to follow Jesus must be willing to serve Him (see Luke 9:23). Jesus gives two promises in that same verse,

and (1) where I am, my servant also will be. (2) My Father will honor the one who serves me.

Lest anyone get the wrong idea of why Jesus came from heaven to earth, Jesus spells it out in verse 27,

²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 

Jesus turns His–and our–attention to the Father and says, ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!”

God answers audibly, Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 

I hate to stop here, but it IS Sunday. We will pick it up here tomorrow. For today, let’s consider the ideology and prerequisite of being a Christ follower.

Abba, each day we are to turn our lives over to You–sometimes hourly, sometimes moment-by-moment. When we die to ourselves and live for Jesus, we honor You. His Spirit, which is Your Spirit, delights in us. May we die to the things of this world and live for You as we follow You through this maze called life. Amen.